A Friendship's Start
by Gentle Touch Ginger
Summary: After "Popular", how did Elphaba and Galinda's relationship grow? How did Galinda's friends react to her support of the green girl? How did Elphaba react to having a friend for the first time in her life? Multi-chap in Shiz Era. Gelphie Friendship. Musical with Book References. Cover picture by blk-kitti on Deviant Art.
1. Chapter One: Socialite

**Chapter One:** Socialite

This is my first Wicked Multichapter, so bear with me. I promise that this story will be worth it.

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The rising sun was unseen by the two girls still sound asleep. The curtains were drawn tight, and even though it was morning the darkness of night still lingered in the room. Jade green skin and golden curls were muted and buried under blankets. Nothing at all could awake the occupants.

Except, perhaps, the loud ringing of a fuchsia alarm clock. After a few seconds of the annoying sound, the blonde rolled over drowsily and stumbled out of bed. Her hand groped across the nightstand trying the stop the noise.

"Shut that thing up." Elphaba moaned, rolling over and flopping ungracefully out of her bed. She started to pull a brush through her raven colored hair, while making the bed with her other arm.

"I'm trying!" Galinda snapped back, locating the clock and quickly shutting it off. "See, I did it."

Ignoring Elphaba's grumbles about waking up at insane hours, Galinda quickly made her bed, brushed her hair, and dressed. She applied her makeup and fixed her hair, then started to wonder which necklace would match her blouse best.

Elphaba, on the other hand, had just finished braiding her hair again and was placing a hat over it when Galinda turned around to ask her roommate's advice. She let out a little shriek and dashed over to Elphaba, immediately starting to undo her braid without even asking her.

"What are you doing?" Elphaba hissed, yanking her head out of Galinda's reach and pushing her away, annoyed at her roommate's intrusiveness.

Galinda was knocked off her feet but managed to catch herself before she hit the ground. Scrambling to her feet, she scrunched her face up in annoyance and snapped at Elphaba, "Don't you remember anything that happened last night? If you want me to help you get some friends, you're going to have to make some changes. And that involves wearing your hair down, like I showed you. That also involves not knocking people over, snapping at them, and taking your nose out of a book every now and then!"

Elphaba was shocked at her friend's outburst. She'd never seen Galinda be angry like this before. Instead of being hurt, she was flattered. No one had ever agreed to do something like this for her, and they sure as hell hadn't been this passionate and determined to see that they succeeded.

"Alright, I surrender," Elphaba said, undoing the braid and tossing her hair a bit to let it regain it's body. "See?"

"The flower too." Galinda said, unimpressed by Elphaba's change of mood.

"Galinda-" Elphaba began warily, but she was cut off.

"No argument. Put it on too." Galinda took it off the nightstand and clipped it so it drew hair away from Elphaba's face.

"Am I done?" Elphaba asked, picking up her schoolbag and reaching for her books.

"No you aren't. You need to be nice to people. Say hello, look people in the eye, ask them if they had fun at the dance last night. People aren't going to come to you, you've got to come to them."

"I'll just creep them-"

"You creep everyone out at first, but you have to show them your personality. Your new, improved personality. You will be polite," Galinda took a step towards Elphaba, "Positive," She took another step, "And most importantly, social!"

Galinda was now glaring at Elphaba, inches away from her. The effect might have been threatening if she wasn't a full head shorter then her roommate. Usually Elphaba would have laughed, but she doubted that would help now. She just nodded and took a step back, starting to pack her bag up again.

Galinda turned around and did the same, and the two headed down to breakfast together. While they were walking down the stairs, Elphaba noticed a small cut on the blonde's finger.

"What happened?" She asked, carefully grasping Galinda's hand and examining the injury. It wasn't deep, but it looked like it stung nastily.

"Someone pushed me onto the floor," Galinda pulled her hand out of Elphaba's and continued to descend the staircase. "Someone I was trying to help."

Guilt flooded Elphaba. She had been rude, hadn't she? Looking back on things, pushing her probably hadn't been the best move.

"Galinda, I'm sorry. Really, I am. I know you're just trying to help, and I didn't mean to push you. I'm just not used to someone caring about my happiness, that's all."

"It's alright." The reply was quiet, yet genuine.

They reached the breakfast hall. Students turned to gape at Elphaba as she passed on a normal day, but now that she was accompanied by Galinda, practically the whole place was staring at the two of them as they got their food and looked for a place to sit. Galinda knew that Shenshen and Pfannee were getting breakfast in town, so she sat down with a few students from her Calculus class. It was one of the few classes that she and Elphaba had together. The students greeted Galinda happily, but just stared at Elphaba.

"You know my roommate, Elphaba," Galinda said warily, gesturing towards the green girl.

The students nodded, nudging each other and whispering. Finally one of them spoke up.

"Er-yeah. What's she doing here?"

"She's having breakfast with us," Galinda answered, "I thought you ought to meet her properly, considering you're in the same class."

One of the students looked at Elphaba and mumbled, "Hi", but the rest of them just stared at their food.

As the meal progressed, Galinda asked the students several questions about their time at the dance and a conversation struck up about who had gone with who. Usually Elphaba would have ignored their idiotic chatter, but Galinda had said that she ought to be social. So when the conversation turned to Boq and Nessa, Elphaba immediately spoke up. She talked about how Nessa believed that she and Boq were perfect and how excited she had been when he'd asked her, finishing with her opinion on why they made a cute couple.

Her change in mood and her contribution surprised everyone, even Galinda. Her bravery did not go unrewarded. For the rest of the meal the students included Elphaba in the conversation, even allowing her to steer into topics that interested her. One of the girls, who was named Alanee, seemed interested in chatting about what they were learning in History class. Talking to her seemed natural, and expressing her opinions with someone else who actually cared felt wonderful. Elphaba couldn't believe she'd been missing out on this for so long. She couldn't remember the last time that she'd talked to someone besides Nessa who'd actually, truly, listened.

When the meal was over, the students seemed much more accepting of Elphaba. Alanee even promised to save her a seat in Calculus.

As they walked to their first class, Galinda babbled on and on about how well it had gone, how amazing Elphaba had done, and how this was definitely going to work. For the first time, Elphaba felt hopeful. Maybe this plan could work.

* * *

As class emptied, Galinda got caught up in the river of students heading for the dormitories. She looked around for Shenshen and Pfannee, wondering where they were. They had been in the same class as her, but for some reason they hadn't sat next to her. She wanted to speak to them about Elphaba. They were Galinda's best friends, and they could help her remake Elphie. All she had to do was to make them understand.

She spotted them sitting under a tree. Shenshen was bent over a book and Pfannee was painting her nails. Galinda walked over to them.

"Hello, girls," Galinda said, sitting down next to them, "Pleasant day, isn't it?"

"Hello, Galinda," Pfannee said stiffly, "We hear you've been spending a lot of time with your roommate lately. Why the sudden change of heart? Only yesterday you tried to embarrass her at the dance."

Galinda's expression turned sour. "She helped me get into Morrible's Sorcery class. She's actually really kind and passionate and, well, normal, once you get to know her."

"Galinda dear, you can't be serious," Shenshen put her book down and glared at her. "It's not just her abnormal skin color that makes her a freak, it's her attitude. The way she speaks out in class, spends every free moment wrapped up in one of her dusty old books, avoids being with people, wears the drabbest, shabbiest clothes she can find; Galinda she's a lost cause, give up. You aren't doing yourself any favors associating yourself with her, and I certainly hope that you didn't come here to ask us to do the same."

Galinda was shocked and horrified at Shenshen's behavior. "She's worth half of you! How dare you speak about her like that?! You don't even know her! I ashamed to call you my friend! She can change, she will! I'll help her!"

"Oh Galinda," Pfannee said, practically purring as she stood up and advanced towards the blonde. "If you continue to associate yourself with that monstrosity, we will no longer call you our friend. We'll sit and watch as you fail to create a socialite out of that green heap of nothing, then we'll let you fall with her. No one in the school will speak with you, associate with you, even look at you. You'll be lower then she is now. Your little dabble at the top of the social ladder will be long forgotten, and you'll be a nobody. Without your vivacious personality, what are you? You barely pass your classes, you're no good at magic; all you have is a rich father and a good name. A name that you will soon disgrace."

Tears had risen in Galinda's eyes, but she took a step towards Pfannee and glared at her as threateningly as she could, despite the fact that she was shorter then her so called friend. She couldn't find words to express the mess of anger and confusion inside of her, so, instead of speaking, Galinda pushed Pfannee and stormed away. The tears fell as she made her way towards the outskirts of campus, where she was guaranteed a place to be alone.


	2. Chapter Two: Tears Under a Tree

**Chapter Two:** Tears Under a Tree

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I realized while writing this that I switch in-between POV's all the time. So this is me sort of admitting that I do it, it's not a mistake, it's just part of my style. I think it adds to the story and heightens the emotions, think what you want. =D Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, or followed. It means a great deal to me that you care about my story.

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Elphaba walked across campus, her bag bumping annoyingly against her side. Her eyes scanned the clusters of students sitting under trees or on benches to see if Galinda was with them. The blonde usually returned to the room well before her, but today Elphaba had entered an empty room. After waiting for about twenty minutes, she had gone out searching for the blonde.

At first she had looked for her in the classroom Galinda had just left, but it was empty. Elphaba had checked the Dining Hall, the Library, and even tried to find some of Galinda's ridiculous friends to ask, but to no avail. She had been searching for half an hour now, and fear for her roommate was starting to mess with her reason.

Why hadn't Galinda told Elphaba where she going? What if she given up on Elphaba, and didn't want to confront her about it? What if she had gone into town with that ridiculous boyfriend of hers? Or worse, what if she had gone into town alone? What if she had been attacked? Abducted? She could have even been killed.

Elphaba dismissed the thought. She probably had gotten lost. Maybe she was meeting with a teacher, or playing in some girl's dorm or something. But why; why hadn't she told Elphaba where she had been going?

Elphaba had reached the outskirts of campus. Shiz bordered a large forest on one side, and a town on the other. There were a few benches out here for rebellious students who dared to come this close to the forest, but none of them were occupied.

Of course she wasn't here. Galinda would never have been bra- "Sweet Oz," Elphaba murmured under her breath, her train of thought interrupted. Crouched under one of the trees was a short, blonde girl. She looked like she was crying, and she hadn't heard Elphaba walk up.

"Galinda?"

The girl turned to look at her, and Elphaba sighed with relief. Here was her roommate, safe and well. She had the urge to yell at her for putting her through such an ordeal, but the blonde looked so sad and lost she couldn't bring herself to cause her more pain.

"Elphie? What are you-you doing here?" she asked, her voice cracking a bit. Elphaba could see that she was wiping her eyes and shuffling into a different position.

"You didn't come back to the room," She replied gently, walking over and sitting down next to the blonde. "I got worried."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry, Elphie. Really, I am." Galinda stuttered, not meeting Elphaba's gaze. Elphaba saw tears welling up in her eyes, despite her efforts to hide it.

"Why are you out here?" Elphaba asked, looking at Galinda with concern. "What happened?"

Galinda just shook her head, burying her face in her hands. She couldn't tell Elphie what Pfannee and Shenshen had said about her without hurting Elphaba's feelings...then again Elphaba had never cared about Pfannee and Shenshen's opinions on anything. She didn't see a way out of telling Elphaba the truth. At least she could try and numb it a bit.

"Well, I-I was talking to Pfannee and-and Shenshen," Galinda began, still not looking at her emerald friend, "Abo-about you. And th-they said, that-that y-you-"

Sobs racked Galinda again, and she felt Elphaba wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her close. "Oh Galinda, I don't care about anything those two bitc- er, uh, girls said."

Galinda giggled, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "You're so funny when you're being mean."

A grin cracked across Elphaba's face. She hadn't realized it, but making Galinda happy had made her happy too. She pulled the blonde closer, not really wanting to bring up Pfannee and Shenshen again but knowing that Galinda needed to talk about what they had said.

"So, what did they say? You can't be crying because they were mean about me." Elphaba said gently.

"That's only part of it," Galinda said, a little more calmly now. She had stopped crying. "I defended you, and then they started talking about what would happen if I-" Her voice cracked, but she regained control quickly. "If I fail. At remaking you."

"What did they say to you?" Elphaba asked, fury rising in her. It was one thing to insult her, everyone did. It was another thing to insult Galinda. Especially if the ones inflicting the damage were Galinda's closest friends.

"They-they talked about how no one would like me anymore," Elphaba could see tears rising in her friend's eyes again. "And how if no one liked me, I-I was worth-worthless. Because I'm no good at sch-school and ma-magic." Galinda choked the last word out, and then she started to sob again. Elphaba wrapped her arms around the blonde and pulled her closer, so that she was sobbing into Elphaba's shoulder. Elphaba had no idea what to do. She had never been good at caring or comforting. No one had ever held Elphaba as she cried, so she had no experience to help her comfort her friend.

She settled on just telling Galinda the truth. "You're not worthless. Stuff like school and magic; just because you're not good at them doesn't mean you're worthless. You're good at other stuff, like being a good friend, and picking out clothes, and uh- staying strong. Yeah- you're really strong. You support everyone, especially me. Even when I hated you, I admired that about you."

Galinda's head lifted up at Elphaba's last words. Elphaba could see that her makeup was smeared, tears still clung to her lashes, and her eyes were red and watery. "You-you really mean that?"

"Of course." Elphaba said, smiling. She must have done something right, Galinda looked happier. Maybe she could care, at least about people like Nessa and Galinda. "And don't worry about me. I don't care what they say. If they were your true friends, they wouldn't say something like that. You don't need them."

Galinda nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'm alright...I'm fine, really. I was being silly. I don't need them. I have better friends, like you, and Fiyero, and Nessa."

Elphaba gave her friend a one armed squeeze, and stood up. "Come on, we really should get back. To our room, before it gets dark." She took Galinda's hand and pulled her up.

Together the two friends walked across the campus, laughing and smiling. Their silhouettes grew smaller and smaller until they faded into the darkness of the night.

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I also want to point out that this chapter is Elphaba working for the friendship. She's trying really hard to be caring and comforting rather then snappy and bitter. That's why she seems a little out of character. She isn't the Wicked Witch of the West yet. She's Elphaba, and she's learning how to care about people by comforting her best friend.

I asked my family/friends some pretty morbid questions while I was writing this?

_"List a bunch of terrible things that could happen to someone."_

_"If you're being "racked" with sobs, do you add the "w" or drop it?" _

I don't want to be one of those authors who begs for reviews, but your reviews truly make my day and I love seeing them. ;)


	3. Chapter Three: Shopping Trip

**Chapter Three:** Shopping Date

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Thanks for the reviews guys, it really means a lot. I especially want to thank my friend, Ædelstan. She made me write this chapter, and she's been really supportive. Also, thanks to my friend Bee. She never goes on her account, but she tolerates my wickedness even though she's never seen the show. She also checks this story for silly errors I make. :(

Also I will be gone for two weeks at camp, so I won't be able to update. I'm really sorry. When I get home I'll post as soon as I can.

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Pfannee and Shenshen became a prominent issue in Galinda's life, as well as Elphaba's. Galinda pretended not to care, but Elphaba knew that she missed her friends. Elphaba had made it her personal job to keep Galinda away from her former friends, but after two days of dedicated work she finally slipped up.

Usually on Tuesdays, Galinda would eat breakfast with Pfannee and Shenshen and walk over to the history building with them. It was the one class they had together. Elphaba decided that taking an alternative route would be best, so she and Galinda finished breakfast early. Elphaba led her roommate around the dorm rooms for the honor students, arriving at the history building just in time for class.

Unfortunately, they ran right into Pfannee and Shenshen. The two girls surveyed Galinda with icy glares, not saying a single word to her.

Elphaba felt the blonde stiffen at her side, and she grabbed Galinda's hand. "Ignore them," she whispered, turning her roommate toward the classroom. "Stand tall." Once Pfannee and Shenshen had past them, she released the blonde's hand. "Well, as tall as you can stand anyway." She teased, tugging at one of Galinda's curls.

"Elphie!" Galinda snapped, yanking on Elphaba's braid lightly. She didn't know how to show it, but she was grateful for her roommates support. "Er-thanks. For helping me deal with them. I know you have better things that you could be doing then acting like my bodyguard. It means a lot."

"After all you've done for me, this is the least I can do," Elphaba answered casually, guiding Galinda to a seat far away from her former friends.

"What have I done for you?" Galinda sat down in a seat and taking out her books.

"You've worked day and night reinventing me," Elphaba was a little shocked at the blonde's question. What hadn't Galinda done for her? "You've gone out of your way to find me friends, change my attitude, you stuck up for me at the dance-"

"Okay, okay." Galinda interrupted. She felt her cheeks grow red and she turned away.

Class started, and Galinda felt herself zoning out. The Great Drought was just so dreadfully boring. She took a few half-hearted notes, but she mostly just doodled pictures of hearts, her name, and occasionally a dress or two.

"Shouldn't you be listening?" Elphaba whispered, tapping Galinda's paper with her pencil.

"I am!" Galinda whispered fiercely, pointing to the three bullet points she'd made.

"All that says is 'Vinkus affected most, wildfires burned forests down, crops suffered.' Galinda he said all of those things in the first minute of class." Elphaba whispered, giggling a bit.

"Well, let's look at your notes," Galinda pushed her books out of the way and snatched Elphaba's notebook off of her side of the table. "Oh...oh my." Elphaba had two pages on the Great Drought. AND her writing was absolutely tiny!

"Curse you," Galinda muttered, "Can I copy those after class?"

"If you promise to take better notes," Elphaba answered.

Galinda nodded, turning her attention to Professor Dillamomd for once. Elphaba made straight "A"'s. She made mostly "C"'s with the occasional "B". She would take any advice that green girl gave her school wise. Fashionwise, however, Galinda would rather ask a goat.

* * *

After the class let out, Galinda and Elphaba returned to their room. Galinda started to fix her hair, and Elphaba saw her go to her closest and pick out an outfit.

"Going somewhere for lunch?" Elphaba asked casually, sitting on her bed and leaning against the wall. She pulled an apple out of her bag and took a bite out of it.

"Fiyero and I are going into town," Galinda didn't turn from her mirror to look at Elphaba, "If you want to come too, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Oh no," Elphaba was horrified at the thought of being alone with Galinda and her boyfriend. "I don't want to er-bother you two. Really, I'm fine."

"Elphie, you're no bother!" Galinda chirped, slipping her old clothes off and pulling on a fancy skirt and blouse. "I've been meaning to properly introduce the two of you for ages. Come on, it'll be fun."

"Won't he, er, uh, be mad? That you invited me without asking him?" Elphaba struggled to find excuses. They probably would hold hands and kiss and all sorts of annoying lovey-dovey stuff. She couldn't think of a worse way to spend her afternoon. "And I have a lot of schoolwork to do. It'd just be better if I stayed here..."

"Oh, I told him you might tag along." Galinda applied a last layer of lipstick and turned around to face Elphaba.

She looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair was perfectly styled, gentle golden curls framed her smooth, bright face. She had done something with her eye shadow that brought out the deeper blues in her eyes. Elphaba felt herself blushing and she turned away. Muttering curses under her breath, she tried to respond.

"Bu-but I-I have...class."

"Elphie, you know as well as I do that you have a free period after lunch." Galinda sat down next to her roommate. "Please come. Honestly, I have no idea what your problem is."

Seeing no way out of it, Elphaba sighed. "Fine. But I'm not getting all dollied up. This frock is fine."

"Elphie-"

"I'm serious Galinda."

"Oh alright." Galinda stood up from the bed and pulled Elphaba up too. "Bring some money, we're going to eat somewhere and we might go shopping!"

"I don't need anything new," Elphaba protested, fetching her wallet from a shelf and placing it her bag. "And you don't either."

"Whatever. We'll see whose right when we get there." Galinda sung the last few words, giggling.

Together the two girls made their way out of their dorm, and to the dorm where Fiyero lived. One filled with glee, the other with dread.

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Oh, my first real cliffhanger. Sorta. The first one I made on purpose. Anyway, reviews are fun to read. :)


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